Michelle Visage and James Jordan lock horns over vogue routine that cost her 'Strictly' place
A Twitter war has broken out between Michelle Visage and James Jordan over her vogue-inspired routine from Strictly Come Dancing’s weekend in Blackpool.
Visage was voted out of the BBC dance contest at the weekend over a Couple’s Choice routine that divided viewer opinion on whether it was inspirational or simply lacked dance content.
Read more: Michelle Visage out of Strictly amid Vogue routine controversy
Ex-Strictly pro James Jordan, known for his cutting Twitter commentary on the show each week, was one of the biggest critics of Visage and her partner Giovanni Pernice’s routine, even questioning whether her emotional explanation for choosing the dance was genuine.
Putting the Ball in Ballroom, @MichelleVisage is serving iconic MTV Awards @Madonna realness. 💅 @pernicegiovann1 #Strictly pic.twitter.com/FXN8xNYpCC
— BBC Strictly ✨ (@bbcstrictly) November 16, 2019
On Saturday evening, Visage spoke before her dance about being accepted by the LGBTQ community when she first arrived in New York and got into ball culture, known for its vogueing dance style.
The RuPaul’s Drag Race star tearfully dedicated her Blackpool routine to the LGBTQ community, with many fans saying she would have known the routine was a risk but thanking her for prioritising getting her message across over getting top scores.
However, Jordan was unmoved by the interview, accusing her tears of being faked.
FAKE TEARS!!!!
Boring!!!!— James Jordan (@The_JamesJordan) November 16, 2019
When a fan directed Visage to Jordan’s tweet and pointed out he’d accused her of only doing it for the LGBTQ vote, she replied, calling it “deplorable”.
She wrote: “Omg did he??!!! That’s deplorable. Gross.”
Read more: Michelle Visage calls Giovanni Pernice her rock amid rift rumours
Visage then went directly to Jordan to call him out on his comments, although he protested that he was entitled to his opinion and was being trolled by her.
He also accused Visage of being “upset that ‘her’ community didn’t save her”.
No! That would be called trolling...
That’s all https://t.co/BPBRJTlmWu— James Jordan (@The_JamesJordan) November 17, 2019
I love the fact I’m being trolled by @michellevisage for my honest opinions on Twitter and never once “@“ her in any tweet
Didn’t realise I wasn’t allowed my own opinion on my own account
Think she’s still upset “her” community didn’t save her.
Don’t blame me 🤷♂️— James Jordan (@The_JamesJordan) November 17, 2019
Jordan had also tweeted that Visage’s routine was “not dancing just posing”, something that other viewers had argued over, saying it was disregarding the cultural significance of vogueing.
He called it an “easy, easy decision” to send Visage home, but as she insisted that she was proud of trying to change the world by taking risks, he conceded that she had a lot to be proud of and could have won.
You should be proud of yourself as I thought you and Giovanni were brilliant together. In fact I thought you had a chance of winning
Change doesn’t always mean it’s better but you took a risk it just didn’t pay off.
You still did great xxx https://t.co/BzHU3910XN— James Jordan (@The_JamesJordan) November 17, 2019
After landing in the dance-off during Sunday’s show, Visage lost out to Saffron Barker when all four judges voted to save her for her Quickstep.